ISSUE 91 : Nov/Dec - 1991 - Australian Defence Force Journal

THE MIND OF THE SOLDIER
IS
A determination to drive others.
a formalised, legal trial at arms where fighting is
performed according to a set of rigid principles'. 17
The cause of this apparent reluctance might be
attributed to the type of person attracted into the
military. Dixon argues that the military man is ultraconservative
and only interested in maintaining the
status quo. 1 " Alternatively, it might be blamed on a
disciplined, military environment which is at odds
with the requirements of original thought and talent.
A 'settled conviction that criticism is essential to
healthy thought' 19 is, according to Moran, contrary
to the military ethos.
Such views are perhaps a little dated and many
contemporary writers are not so scathing of the
military's attitude towards academic training.
Keegan is praising of recent military efforts to
encourage the study of military history. As encapsulated
in Napoleon's advice to 'read and read
again', 20 these studies can add an academic perspective
to other, more formalised training. Its
benefits are only too apparent in mess conversation,
which Keegan believes is 'a great deal more illuminating
than that of club bars or university common
rooms'. 21 Therefore we should be wary of references
to the intellectual inadequacy of military men.
However, in the eyes of some, the spectre of the
military mind at odds with the requirements of
competent generalship, will linger on.
Assumptions about the capacity of the military
mind are also challenged by the conflicting requirements
of peace and war. In peace, the commander is
cast in the role of trainer and manager. Compromise,
tolerance, compassion and clemency are therefore a
sine qua nan. In war, qualities such as aggression
and determination can be of more significance.
Their incompatibility is self evident. Hudson even
suggests that the requirements of peacetime command
arc diametrically opposed to the requirements
of war. 'They do not prevail in battle, nor do they
provide the intellectual cloche to nurture an
aggressive, ruthless and single-minded commander'.
22 Training will clearly help to ameliorate
some of the problems. But even so, there is a
suspicion that the human mind lacks the dexterity to
satisfy the requirements of modern day command.
To imitate the tiger in a future conflict might prove
harder than Shakespeare once supposed: 2 '
In peace, there's nothing so becomes a man
as modest stillness and humility.
But when the blast of war blows in our ears.
Then imitate the action of the Tiger.
The frailty and vagaries of the human mind are
also exposed in the person of responsibility. Stress
will often be the root cause; its origins lying in the
added responsibility and complexity of modern
command. Questions of ethics and an excess of